Assembled
by The Hope Lions
Summary: AU in which all of Team Bus's missions happened Pre-Avengers. Right when Skye's powers are developing, so is the dangerous threat of Loki and the Chitauri. Director Fury knows that he needs a team to fight for this, and perhaps there is one more member to add to the list
1. The Avengers

**So, basically, I just want Skye to be an Avenger. Also note that I rewatched Avengers to write this, but have made many modifications because, well I can. I'm only writing Skye's part mainly, so just assume everything else is the same and I didn't write it because that would have been boring. Hope you enjoy! This is certainly different from what I normally write.**

 **Disclaimer: Everything Marvel is a mess when it comes to rights, but I can guarantee I own none of them.**

* * *

Skye had been at the safe house for three days, and was finally beginning to feel at home when the doorbell rang. Shocked that a super secret safe house even had a doorbell, Skye didn't even consider the possibility of opening the door being a bad idea. May would have shot Skye if she knew, but luckily it was not a threat at the door.

It was Director Fury.

Skye had met him once before on a mission, but she had never seen him looking like this. The man looked as if he'd had a whole building collapse on him. _Perhaps he has_. Skye mused _. I'm pretty out of touch here. Anything could have happened and I wouldn't have known._ It was a terrifying thought, and it was probably a good thing she was wearing Simmon's power-dampening gloves because otherwise the earth would have probably been trembling. For Director Fury to be here then something had to be very, very wrong, and Skye was already scared enough as it was.

"Agent Skye," he greeted plowing through the open door and into the house. The Director looked around, silent for a moment, until he had Skye completely on edge. "A few hours ago, while experimenting with some alien tech, we had an unexpected visitor, from another planet. His name is Loki, Coulson may have mentioned him." Of course he had. Skye knew all about what happened in New Mexico, and it wasn't pretty. "One of my best agents, Clint Barton, has been compromised. This is no idle threat Agent; the world is at stake. It's with that in mind that I have come to offer you a new position. You've done a remarkable job on Coulson's Bus, but considering your new abilities, I think there may be another program in which your talents would be better suited."

Skye felt the folder titled **Avengers Initiative** rest in her hands. She didn't even need to open it to know the contents. As much as Fury had tried to keep it a secret, anyone who knew anything about Shield knew of this little program. Coulson had been working on it before the Bus, so naturally he'd told Skye despite it being classified. (They didn't do secrets on the Bus.)

"I figured Coulson had told you," Fury's voice held a hint of humor that made Skye cringe. Fury wasn't an evil man, but everyone knew he wasn't the joking sort either. "So what do you say?"

Skye was pretty sure the man was out of his tree. She'd had her powers for less than a week and had, in that time, she had almost killed everyone who got close to her. There was a reason she wore power-dampening gloves. "You're kidding right?"

"Do I look like a joking man to you Agent Skye?

"Well, no, obviously not but… I have no control."

Fury chuckled again, "You'd hardly be the least volatile member of the team. Do you forget who this bunker was built for?"

Oh, even better. Not only would they have the girl who created earthquakes around, but also the guy who turns into a giant, green rage monster. It was a perfectly safe combination of course! "Yeah but he… he can do science-y stuff. I'm good with computers, sure, but you have Tony Stark. You don't need me for my computer skills. You want me for my powers, and I don't know how to use them."

"Then learn," Fury ordered, no hint of sympathy in his voice. "This threat is real, and the world needs people like you if you are to survive. As a Shield agent you are being transferred to a new team. If you will not join this team I will accept your resignation right now."

Resignation? That was a low blow, even for Nick Fury. If he knew anything about her, and surely he did, he knew how much being an Agent of Shield meant to her. He had to know that. The choice between being an avenger and quitting Shield was no choice at all.

"Don't all the Avengers need codenames?" It was the stupidest excuse Skye could come up with for not joining, but she couldn't just give in. This was a terrible, terrible idea.

Fury knew that as well, but he smiled. The world needed the Avengers, and that was what Skye was. "Welcome to the team, Quake."

* * *

Skye arrived at the helicarrier the next day, wondering what on earth (or more specifically, off earth) she'd gotten herself into. The file hadn't been particularly large, but from Skye's understanding this was the biggest threat earth had ever faced. There was an alien brainwashing Shield agents and Avengers candidates, and Skye was part of the world's only hope. They were basically doomed.

"Agent Skye," the girl turned around to see a woman standing there. "The Quinjet with Agent Coulson and Captain Rogers is just landing. The debrief is going to start soon."

As the agent went back inside, Skye continued to look out over the water. This was her new life, where she was an asset more than an agent, and a powerful force of nature. Gritting her teeth, the girl slid her power-dampening gloves off and dropped them in the water. She was here as Quake, not as Skye. This was her new job, her new responsibility, and it was about time she accepted it.

Skye was a part of the team, but she was also a fangirl. The moment she stepped towards the main area and saw Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rodgers and Bruce Banner talking, she almost fainted. They were legends. Sure, there was a lot of bad stuff in there too, but Robin Hood is regarded as a hero despite being a thief. Hulk and Black Widow were superheroes no doubt; it didn't matter that Romanoff had no actual powers.

The two looked up as she approached her new teammates, and Skye found herself thinking back to when she first joined Shield. Back before Ward was revealed as a mole and Skye had powers, she'd just been a girl pulled from her van by men in suits. Now she was the woman in a suit (combat suit, but whatever). She wasn't exactly the newbie anymore (though compared to Agent Romanoff, everyone was a rookie.) Still, it was odd for Skye to think that neither of them had been on the team for longer than her. They were equals, and it was a scary thought.

"You must be Agent Skye," Banner greeted with a wide, toothy smile. "I don't want to overstep but the reports said you'd just recently gained your powers and are having some issues with control. I'd be willing to give you some pointers, if you want them."

Skye noticed Romanoff pretending not to judge, but the assassin obviously didn't like the idea of another lose canon on the team. It appeared that she had yet to realize that the whole team was just a bunch of lose canons-herself included.

"I'd like that," Skye told the older man thanking whatever God there was that her powers weren't as horrible as Bruce's. "Let me guess, the method involves lots of yoga and fruit smoothies?"

Banner laughed, and Skye decided she liked him. He was so even-tempered considering what was inside him. If Skye didn't know better she'd have believed he was really just there to tract the Tesseract.

But she did know better. There were plenty of scientists out there, but not that many with powers like Banners. If they were going after aliens they needed all the destructive force they could get, hence why their lead scientist was actually the Hulk.

"If you want to be doing yoga, just join May for one of her Tai Chi sessions."

Skye turned around and found Coulson standing behind her, Captain America to his right. Wow. She was surprised he'd even managed to form a complete sentence. Skye may be a bit of a fangirl, and she'd probably die when Tony Stark showed up, but Coulson lived for Captain America. When they found him in the ice, Coulson had taken vacation time just to go watch the frozen man. It was a complete obsession, and sort of cute. "You know AC, I'll pass," Skye replied with a sad smile. Something told her she won't be back on the Bus with her SO anytime soon. "Want to introduce your friend?"

"Captain Rodgers," he introduced for himself, stepping forward. They both knew that everyone was aware of whom he was, but Skye suspected he was uncomfortable with that fact. He had only been out of the ice for two weeks; in his mind this was still the forties, not the age of Google. "Aren't you a bit young to be on this team?"

Skye was 21; she was definitely not too young. "Aren't you a bit old? I mean aren't most 93 year old men in nursing homes? I hope this won't be too much exertion for you."

Agent Romanoff laughed at the jibe, and the tension amid the whole group diminished. They were all obviously uncomfortable with the situation, but Skye made them feel much more at ease. She was good at that.

As the group made their way into the main room, Skye was shocked by the sight. She'd been to Shield facilities before of course. She'd lived on the Bus for over a year and a half, but this was a new experience all together. There were probably fifty or a hundred computers all manned by agents. _So this is what it means to be communications division_ Skye realized. In another life, this could have been her.

But it wasn't. She was on this helicarrier for the same reason as freaking Steve Rodgers, and she couldn't forget it.

"Thank you for coming Doctor," Fury greeted Bruce, which Skye felt a bit odd. Everyone was there, yet Fury didn't really seem to mind. He also didn't seem to notice the obvious lack of Tony Stark. Either Iron Man overslept, or he'd ditched. Skye suspected the former over the latter. Whatever else he may be, Tony Stark was a superhero who protected people. Besides, being an avenger was a good way to inflate one's ego, which Stark was fond of.

Bruce only nodded, "Thank you for asking nicely, so how long am I here?"

Fury finally looked to the others gathered. He spoke still only to Banner though, which in an odd way unnerved Skye. It almost felt like the rest of them were never leaving. "Only until we find the Tesseract and then you're free to go."

They continued speaking about that matter, but Skye was distracted. Agent Romanoff was a little ways away from the group, crouched down by a computer showing Agent Barton's file. Without thinking, Skye approached the older woman and spoke. "My partner, well my SO, he was compromised too. You're lucky to know it's not his own free will that chose the enemy over you. We'll get him back soon, you don't have to worry."

Natasha rarely showed much emotion, but her disdain was obvious. "I'm not a child who needs to be coddled. Agent Barton is the enemy whether or not he chose to be. He will be dealt with."

Skye, probably because she was stupid, didn't let the subject drop. "It's okay to be worried about him. He's your friend so you love him."

"Love is for children like you," Natasha brushed off standing up and ignoring the file before her. "I owe Clint a debt he'd prefer me to act on by killing him before he could damage anything else. Perhaps you should have killed your partner before he did that same thing."

Skye wasn't sure how to respond to the woman's cold words, but was luckily saved by Coulson speaking. "Skye, do you think you could track down Loki before the computer programs do?"

"No," she admitted. This was top of the line Shield technology; she couldn't beat it. "But I can reach out to my contacts, see if anyone has been recruited by him. An alien offers them a device which can show them the truth of the universe and most members of the Rising Tide would say yes."

Natasha muttered something in Russian. "I got shot through the leg because of Rising Tide. You are one of them?"

"I was," Skye admitted. She wasn't exactly ashamed of the Rising Tide. There was a lot of information that needed to be spread. Since joining Shield, however, she'd begun to understand that confidentiality could be beneficial as well though. "And whatever they are they're useful. I'm sure I can find out a thing or two."

Fury nodded, "Do so then. Banner, any other ideas?"

While Bruce started muttering about things that would make Simmons jump for joy, Skye pulled out her trusted laptop and started messaging some of those people she suspected would be the first Loki could recruit.

"He's going to be at a gala in Germany," Skye hadn't expected anyone to get back to her so quickly. "And I just got myself an invitation."

Everyone turned to her, and even Natasha looked impressed. "Skye can go in that way, Rodgers and Romanoff won't be able to get in but they can cover the perimeter and try to look for Agent Barton," Fury directed. Without another word, everyone set into motion moving about. Skye couldn't help but feel like there was a blatantly obvious lack of plan. She didn't even know how they were getting to Germany.

"It's Ian Quinn all over again."

That had been one of Skye's first missions, and she had been dangerously close to joining the bad guy. "Except now I can pull the trigger," Skye reminded thinking of the disastrous meeting with Donny she still had nightmares over. "It doesn't matter; I doubt a bullet could take down Loki anyways."

"Skye," the man called grabbing her wrist before she could run away. "Are you okay? I didn't know until yesterday that Fury was bringing you on. If I'd known he would I would never have let him know about your powers."

Like he had a choice. Protocol said that she had to be on the index, and she now was. "I'm fine. May taught me how to keep my pulse-rate even and I've been trying to." She showed him her watch. "I can do this, and if I can't, well I need to at least try."

"After this is over you and I are going to go and find Cal." Skye hadn't even thought of her father yet today; it had been nice. "And I'm sure May will even give you some relief for being an Avenger."

And Skye was sure she wouldn't be going back to living on the Bus, but she didn't say so. Admitting to the reality would only help to make it real. Being a superhero seemed more possible than never marathoning Doctor Who with Fitzsimmons again. "Ah a day off, one can only dream AC. Enjoy your dreams of Captain Rodgers, I've got to go stop an alien."

* * *

Skye got back to her 'room' (cough cough cot), and was surprised to find Natasha there. The Black Widow wasn't known for her friendliness, but she'd been overtly callous to the youngest member of the team. For her to be here now… Well Skye was surprised to say the least.

"I figured you didn't have anything to where," she finally said holding out a skin-tight black dress. "Have you ever gone undercover before?"

Skye let out a little snort of a laugh. "Plenty of times. Gotten shot a few too though so I must not be that good at it. Thank you, for the dress."

"How old are you Skye?"

There was a, not gentleness per say, but a softness to her tone. Within a second, Skye understood why the woman was so much harsher to her than to the boys- Skye reminded her of herself. "I'm twenty one." Or something along that line. Not knowing her exact birthday made it a bit difficult to know.

"And how old were you when you joined Shield?"

"Nineteen."

Natasha nodded, and tossed over the dress. "Don't let Loki touch you with his scepter, it gives him the ability to control people's minds." Like Agent Barton's. "And don't get shot. I like that dress."

Skye knew she should let the woman go, but she just couldn't. "Natasha," she called after the assassin. "I know it bothers you, seeing someone my age working for Shield, but it's different from what you were doing. Shield is the good guys."

"Just the fact that you still believe that tells me you have a lot of living to do, Skye." She went to close the door, but her voice carried through. "So like I said; don't get shot."

It was probably the nicest thing Natasha had ever said to anyone.

* * *

The gala was extravagant. A string quartet played, people drank champagne, it looked like any other charity fundraiser ever. Considering how much the tickets were going for anyone who got them legally (aka not Skye), it wasn't surprising. The place was set for a perfect night.

At least until Loki strolled down the stairs, and started attacking guards.

While everyone ran the other direction, Skye kicked into action, glad Natasha had lent her a short dress, she ran towards him. He was surprised to say the least about there being an agent there already, but he acted quickly. The illusion on his scepter faded away as he swung it towards Skye, who blasted it, and him, backwards.

She stood shocked. All she'd done was push out her hands, and a burst of seismic energy had burst through. Loki was shocked as well. He thought he knew all of Fury's heroes, but this girl was a stranger. She was powerful though, and Loki knew how. One of the many things he'd learned how to do was identify an Inhuman when he saw one.

"And to think, I'd been told your people died out," he smiled getting up from the ground carefully. Skye attempted to knock him again, but found her power unreliable. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "You just went through the mist, didn't you? You don't understand how it works. I can help you with that."

Skye saw his scepter coming towards her chest, but she was rooted to the spot in fear. Her powers were completely out of control and she knew it. The earth was quaking beneath her, and if she moved the whole place could very well collapse. Maybe the whole city.

The pointed stick pressed against her, but Skye felt nothing. She was still Skye, not under Loki's control. The alien didn't seem to realize that though, because he dropped the scepter to his side and began walking. Without thinking about the consequences, she followed suit. Loki trusted her at the moment, trusted her to be under his control, and she could use that to her advantage.

Calmed by having a plan of sorts, the energy within Skye dissipated. She felt normal again by the time she got outside, and ran right into Agent Barton. He pulled his bow, expecting a fight, but Skye made no move at him. He was actually being controlled, and she wasn't going to hurt him. Besides, it would destroy her cover. "Loki is continuing his part of the mission." Whatever that was, Skye didn't know, but it sounded good. "I am to go with you."

Barton didn't even question it, but led the way to a quinjet Skye behind him. Whatever this control was, it gave him unwavering faith in the mission, and he seemed to know Skye had been touched by the scepter. Lucky for her, he didn't know it hadn't done anything.

Much to Skye's surprise, they took off the moment they reached the plane. They never intended to wait for Loki, which could only mean that Loki had another ride out of here. That certainly didn't bode well for Shield.

* * *

As Skye and Clint flew from the sight, Captain America was getting his butt whooped by Loki. The alien might just have won had Tony Stark not shown up guns at the ready. And the alien just might not have been taken if he hadn't wanted to be.

But the Avengers were too confident in their success, and too worried by Skye being missing, to take much notice of how easy it had been. Unwittingly, Skye actually had helped Loki.

"She's nowhere to be found," Steve admitted looking around the crown and back in the gala hall. "Any luck Romanoff?'

Natasha was talking to the elderly man who'd stood up against Loki, and didn't like what she heard. "I saw that girl, sure," he responded. "Brave one she was. Ran right at the guy, but I saw him touch her with some sort of stick. Didn't see much after that."

He didn't need to. Natasha cursed in Russian before speaking over their coms. "Return to the helicarrier. Agent Skye has been compromised."

* * *

Skye and Barton landed at some base, and refueled quickly. While they did, Barton brought Skye to see the Tesseract that was being loaded on a different plane for a very different destination. (Where she didn't know. No one around here asked questions because mine control.)

From the minute she laid her eyes on the Tesseract, however, she understood why no one was questioning anything. It wasn't just the stone in Loki's scepter, it was the one in this cube. Skye could hear it calling to her, showing her the truth of the universe. Before her eyes flashed the image of all the stones, melding together in a glorious union of color and beauty. And the power… it reminded Skye of the Obelisk, multiplied by a million the stone radiated the pure power of the universe, and it was truly awesome.

Skye turned and punched Clint Barton in the face with her power.

The man fell backwards, and quickly sat up rubbing his eyes. "How did you? Who? How did you know that would work."

Skye turned back to the Tesseract, knowing this was the true Clint Barton before her. It had worked, just like the stone told her it would. "How could I not?"

Clint looked at the stone, and remembered hearing the voice. It was gone now though, along with Loki's influence, yet it was clear Skye could still hear it, calling. "You're an alien, are you?" If only the alien influence of Loki could allow for Clint to hear the voice, it made sense for that to be the case for Skye.

"I do not know what I am, but I am certainly inhuman, yes," she admitted tearing her eyes away from the siren voice of the Tesseract. "Whatever I am, it's as old as this stone, and far older than mankind, that's for sure."

Clint didn't understand, and he didn't even know who the girl was. "Loki wasn't controlling you. For the same reason you can hear the stone?"

"The infinity stone in both the Tesseract and the Scepter is affecting me differently." That name, infinity stone. Skye wasn't exactly sure where it came from, but it certainly felt right. "I do not know why."

Clint noticed the ground starting to shake around them. It took him a split second to notice that Skye was the one causing it, and he pulled her away from the Tesseract. Quickly enough, the quaking stopped, and the girl's eyes cleared. "Thank you," she whispered shaking her head, glad for the voice to be gone. "I'm sorry I didn't even realize… I don't have much control… Coulson was going to help me learn but then Fury…"

"Coulson?" Clint repeated and Skye nodded. "So you're Shield then, that's good. What's your name?"

"Skye."

No last name, well Clint knew a thing or two about people who didn't have last names. "Okay, Skye, so what do we do now? Breathe and focus on what we need to do now?"

Skye did as he asked, and calmed down enough that her powers settled. "We need to carry on like we would if we were still under. Do you remember what the plan is?"

"I was going to lead a team to infiltrate the bunker and free Loki," Clint realized eyes wide. "Nat's on there."

Yes, they all were. "Okay then. We need to carry on as if we're going ahead with the plan but instead of freeing Loki we're going to make sure he doesn't escape. First we need to figure out where the Tesseract is going."

"If we ask everyone will know we're no longer under the scepter's influence," Clint reminded her and the girl cursed. Her mind whirled, trying to figure out a way for them to stop Loki's endgame without actually knowing what it is.

"Then we place a tracker on it," Skye decided. If they at least knew where the Tesseract was going they could stop it before it was turned on. "That way once we join up with the rest of the team we can go and destroy it. Hopefully, without Loki there telling them to turn it on, it will just be lying dormant when we get there."

"Hopefully," Barton repeated obviously doubting their luck. "Wait a minute what do you mean the rest of the team?"

Skye laughed, and smiled to herself. "Oh haven't you heard, Hawkeye? We're a part of the Avengers."

* * *

Clint found Skye a tactical suit that fit her well enough, and they loaded on board with all the brainwashed strike members. Once they were in the air, Clint let out a small nod from the driver's seat, and Skye pulled her icer on them. Once they were all sleeping soundly, Skye moved up front to watch the view with Clint.

"Tell me," Clint asked a smile creeping up his cheeks. "How did Nat react to you being a part of the team?"

He knew her better than anyone, so why was he even asking? "Poorly, though she did request I didn't ruin her dress by getting shot, so that's good."

"That's about as high a compliment as Tasha ever gives," Clint chuckled to himself knowing exactly the look she must have had while saying it. "Don't be too hard on her, it's difficult for her. Any girl she ever became friends with she later had to kill. And if she's mean to you it's only because she's trying to drive you away. For your sake, and for hers."

Skye had been guessing that as well. Seeing her, someone so young, fighting must remind Natasha of herself. And the woman probably wanted a better life for Skye, a life away from Shield.

But once you were a part of Shield, you could never really leave it. Not really. "But it's different, me working for Shield. I don't kill people for them." Tell that to Donny Gill… or even Trip.

"Look kid," Clint answered with a sigh. He had two decades on Skye; she could practically be one of his kids. "If you've been with Coulson you're lucky. He's one of the good guys, but not all of Shield is like that. Sooner or later you're going to encounter the darker Shield. When you do, tell me it's any different from her working for the KGB."

Natasha had said something along the same lines, but Skye still found it hard to believe. Sure, Shield had their issues, but the organization itself was built on a principle of protection, a principle Skye believed in. On the Bus they'd worked not as a team, but as a family, and they'd been damn good at their jobs. A lot of people were living because of them, and those who weren't… well Skye tried her best to forget about them.

* * *

"We're getting into radio range," Clint announced a few hours later, waking Skye from her dazed nightmares. She'd dreamt that they were back on the Bus, and Ward was there with his Medusa lackeys. Skye had tried to fight him, but as she did he morphed into Coulson, and he was the one she ended up stabbing. "Hey, kid, you okay?"

Skye grumbled at being called kid, but nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine, what are you going to tell them?"

"Huh, maybe the truth. It would certainly be a first," Clint chuckled radioing in. "Shield vessel 12, this is 661 Bravo with Agents Barton and Skye. We have multiple compromised agents and a few wanted all unconscious. Over."

The pair waited for a response, because the person on the other end was probably running to go and figure out what the heck was going on. Before they got an answer though, they saw steam rising from the ship.

"Screw this," Clint growled landing the plane and jumping out, Skye behind him. Inside the main area, the place was a mess. People ran screaming, and from the one word Skye could make out, it appeared something had sent Banner off.

"I thought you'd been compromised!" Steve yelled over the sound of the engine the Hulk had smashed. "What happened?"

Skye looked at the panel Steve was working on, and rewired it as she spoke. "Long story short the scepter didn't work and Barton and I placed a tracker on the Tesseract and came to help."

Steve looked glad for it too, because she'd figured out the wiring much quicker than he ever could. When looking at it his first response had been that it was run on electricity.

"Here," Steve told her handing the com with Stark on the other end over. "You'll be more help to him. I need to go find Romanoff, last I saw she fell through when Bruce destroyed the lab floor."

Skye put the item in her ear, and heard Tony Stark talking about polarity. "Steve, you there?"

"Steve went to help Agent Romanoff," Skye answered over the coms. "I rewired the panel to provide a better flow of energy. What else do you need?"

Tony didn't even take a beat to wonder who he was speaking to. Despite all the jokes, he knew how to be serious. "I need you to pull that lever when I say." Skye nodded despite him not being able to see, and jumped towards where it was. Unfortunately, she wasn't a super soldier, and fell a bit short. Hanging on to the edge, Skye thought of Ward's words from so long ago, 'when you're hanging off the edge of a building you'll want to do one more pull up.'

Skye never thought she'd be grateful for the traitor, but she was. Pulling herself back up onto the ledge, she managed to pull down the lever right as Tony called out now.

"Nice work," he told her flying towards where she was. "Now let's go see if we can stop the Hulk."

By the time they got into the helicarrier again, the Hulk didn't need stopping; he'd already been thrown from the plane to God-knows where along with Thor. Loki too was missing, but Skye, suspecting that he had no idea the plane went wrong, found him in the plane they had brought here.

"Sorry buddy," she told him as she, and the rest of the Avengers appeared in his path. "But you're not going anywhere."

"So, did we win?"

It was a stupid thing for Tony to say, but Skye had been about to reply 'yes' when she heard Fury's voice over the com. "Agent Coulson is down."

Loki began to laugh at their agony, but quickly stopped after Skye turned to him, his powers flaring, and sent the whole ship he was in flying. Steve pulled her back, terrified of how much damage she could do, but no one was stopping Natasha. As Steve pulled Skye from the room she knew Loki would live, but he would much rather he hadn't.

* * *

A few hours later, Skye, dazed beyond compare, stumbled into the conference room, and found Coulson's Captain America trading cards stained with blood on the table. No one could say a word before she walked back out and locked herself in her room to sob.

Skye didn't remember how it got there, but Coulson's miniature Lola was in her hands. Knocking softly, Steve opened the door to find her playing with the stupid figure. "Was he married?"

"No, but he had a family." Truer words had never been spoken, and Skye knew it. She was part of his family. Her May, Fitzsimmons… Who was going to tell Jemma? She'd be destroyed. "He had a family…"

Steve sat down on the cot next to Skye. "I'm sorry, he seemed like a good man."

"The best," Skye admitted sniffling. "He always believed in the best of people. He was raised with stories of you and your heroicness. He believed that any person could become a hero if they were good men before they were good soldiers."

It had been a long time since Steve heard those words. "I think he cared about you. I think he thought you were a hero."

"He was an idiot," Skye muttered putting Lola Jr. on the side table. "I'm not a hero, none of us are. We're time bombs and Loki exploited that."

"And he's paying for that," Steve reminded her knowing that Natasha cared about Coulson more than anyone. Loki was certainly regretting his choices at the moment. "We won Skye."

She looked up at him, the ancient yet young hero of her hero, her dead hero. "Even without Loki they can still turn on the Tesseract. Are you sure we've actually won?"

"He made it personal." Skye and Steve turned to where Tony was speaking. "Loki went after the one guy was honestly good in Shield. He wanted it to be personal. He's an egotist, trying to hurt us most, where would it hurt us most for us to lose for real?"

Skye, pulled from her mood at the thought, looked up the tracker on the Tesseract. "They're going to release it over New York, in front of everybody. Loki thought that people would flock to him once they saw him as their rightful ruler. If something happens in New York everyone sees."

"That son of a bitch," Tony realized knowing exactly where Loki had been heading to meet the Tesseract.

Twelve minutes later, Skye, Clint, Natasha, Tony, and Steve loaded on a quinjet, and soared away from the helicarrier. "How are we supposed to stop soldiers who aren't receiving any orders?" Steve asked over the loud engines. "If they're not following Loki, who are they following?"

"The Tesseract, it's not like anything of this earth," Skye explained thinking of the ethereal voice she'd heard. "It can speak to you, or something else, someone else, can speak through it like Loki spoke through his scepter. I suspect Loki was never really in charge here and that whoever was controlling Loki has now taken a more direct approach."

"Oh great," Clint muttered from the pilot's seat. "We're fighting an enemy and we don't even know who it is. Oh that's just great."

"If anyone doesn't want to go through with this they don't have to," Steve reminded them standing up. He looked especially to Skye. "Some of us have already been through enough."

Skye shook her head. "If there is one thing I know it's that Coulson believed in Shield's mission of protecting. I'm not going to let him down and let the world end."

"Then it's settled," Steve agreed with a nod. "We'll honor Coulson by stopping this."

Skye shook her head again, knowing there was no honoring to be done. "No, we won't honor Coulson. We'll avenge him."

* * *

The Avengers made their way to New York City, but not quick enough. Eric Selvig already had the whole machine set up by the time they got there. Tony left to try and shut it down, but Skye doubted he could. There was no logical appeal that would do anything. These orders were coming from someone far away, and he couldn't be found.

The sky opened up above them, and a monstrous sight came out. Aliens, real, bonifed aliens, burst through the portal. Skye found herself rooted to the spot in fear, and the city quaked around her. Natasha, realizing what happened, slapped the girl. "If you can handle this leave," she ordered her look harsh. "Because this is going to be enough of a mess without your powers destroying the eastern seaboard. You can stay and fight, or you can cower in fear. It's your choice, but you have to make it now, and not look back."

Skye looked at the elder woman, and with a deep breath, spun on her heels and shot away a half dozen Chitauri soldiers. When Skye turned back around, she saw Natasha was running off, but she could just make out the smile lining the assassin's face.

A scream pierced through the air, and Skye turned to see a young girl pinned under a Chitauri weapon. This time Skye didn't even need her powers, she just ran towards the alien with everything May had ever taught her and it went down. She scooped up the little girl, who, much to her surprise, wasn't crying. "Thank you Miss," she whispered as Skye handed her over to a police officer. "You're my hero!"

Blushing from cheek to cheek, Skye ran back into the fight.

The battle was going poorly, but when they got the news that Natasha could close the portal everything looked up… Until Tony spoke. "I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip," Steve countered, and Skye laughed to herself. She could hear silence on the other end of the coms as everyone else wondered what sent her over the edge.

"Oh Christ, don't fly into the portal Tony, someone just give me a lift and we can all survive this fight." No one knew what she meant, but soon enough Skye felt herself in Thor's arms (and man were they nice) rising up to meet Tony. "On the count of three you let go of the nuke," Skye ordered Stark. "One, two, three."

He did as she asked, and Skye let out a burst of her energy, knocking the nuke into the portal. "Now!" they all called to Natasha, who closed the portal right as the blinding light of a nuclear reaction appeared. As they dropped down to the ground, Skye watched all the remaining soldiers fall. It appeared that once their ship was destroyed so where they. Cool.

"You're lucky you could even breathe up there," Steve noted once they landed in the rubble. "That was a risky move Skye."

She looked around at the destroyed center of the city, and noted, much to her amusement, that the only letter left on Stark towers was the A. "Well, I did sorta save everyone, so I'll consider it worth the risk."

"He is right, a human could not survive at that altitude," Thor mused looking at her. "I do believe I know what you are. There was a race long ago called the Inhumans. They were created by the Kree as weapons, but were supposedly destroyed when they could no longer be controlled. I believe you to be proof that that wasn't the case."

So she was a race separate from humanity… well that was both terrifying and slightly cool. "Hey, anything you know I'd love to hear."

Thor was about to answer her when they heard the raging scream of the Hulk approaching them. He was still smashing everything and Skye thought for a second he'd smash them, but he didn't. The second he reached the other Avengers he just stopped, and there was something so entirely Bruce in his face. Perhaps they weren't as different as some would believe them to be.

* * *

They went out to dinner that night, and ate in silence. There was little to say considering everything that had happened. They'd just stopped an alien invasion and a nuke. It was certainly an interesting day, yet there was nothing left to be said.

The next day, Thor left with Loki and the Tesseract. No one had even tried to fight him on that decision. Thor was Asgardian, and he was responsible for Asgardians. In a similar way Skye would be responsible for any Inhumans they faced, and Steve for any genetically modified super soldiers. It was an unspoken rule, but it made sense. Everyone was responsible for that which they understood, because you can't fear what you understand.

Three days later, most of the Avengers met up in a graveyard. Bruce had disappeared, Thor returned to Asgard, but the rest of them needed to pay their respects to Coulson. Without his death they would never have banded together the way they did. He was the real hero of the hour, and nobody forgot it.

Skye hadn't seen any of her family from the Bus since she left, but when Jemma came running at her nothing had to be said. She'd been pretty horrible to Skye because she was scared, as Skye had been. Now they understood better. "So, an Avenger," May commented looking over towards Skye's new teammates. "You know Fury asked me to join, but I told him to screw off. It's much more your style."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Only May could tell Nick Fury to screw off and actually get her way. "So what are you all doing? Have you been reassigned?"

They all nodded. "We're heading to the Parthenon, some Shield research facility," Fitz answered for him and Jemma. "Mack, Hunter, and Bobbi have already gone to the Hub; May will join them there."

Skye wasn't surprised that their newer recruits weren't at this funeral. That just wasn't their style. "Fury made Clint my new SO," Skye admitted looking over to where the older man was standing with some woman and a couple of kids. "I don't know exactly where we're heading, but I'm sure I'll end up running into you sooner or later."

"I'm glad Fury didn't try to get us back on the Bus," Jemma admitted looking to where Coulson's picture sat above his casket. "It just wouldn't have been the same without him." The world wouldn't be the same without Coulson, and none of them needed to say so.

A few days after the funeral, Skye finally found out where her and Clint were going to be running ops out of. Why they needed two Avengers at a research facility, Skye didn't know, but she was happy being so close to Fitzsimmons. Clint seemed happy for the assignment too, but when asked why by Skye he only replied, "it's close to my home."

It would be a few weeks before he'd trust his partner enough to show her exactly what that meant.

* * *

"Skye," Maria's field office worked out of the Parthenon, so both girls had gotten pretty close. "Director Fury is in my office, and he wants to talk to you."

A chill ran down her spine as she climbed up the infinite steps to Maria's office, but Fury didn't look ready to kill her when she opened the door. "Maria said you wanted to see me sir?"

"You're going to want to sit down for this," he answered tossing a file on the desk. Skye looked over it, and saw the words **Classified: Level 7** blaring out at her.

"Last time I checked, I was only a level 2, sir," Skye looked at the man wondering if he'd been hit on the head at some point of the attack. "What's this that you decided to tell me about it?"

Fury sat forward in his chair, and looked at the girl. "Something that none of the other Avengers can know. I wasn't going to even tell you, but I made Coulson a promise. I owed him this much to keep it."

Coulson? Skye missed the man more than anything, and hearing his name stung. He was her father, not Cal, and missing him had consumed far too much of Skye's thoughts over the past week. If Coulson wanted her to know this then….

Skye flipped open the file, and Skye was shocked by what she found. "Is this true?"

"Every word of it," Fury admitted with a nod. "Project Tahiti was designed in case an Avenger should fall. When one did, I saw it only fit to use it." Skye looked back down at the picture. Coulson looked like Hell, but he was alive, he was really and truly alive. "Now that you know, perhaps you can get back to work and this time actually focus on it."

Yeah, now she actually could.

* * *

 **What do you think? Certainly different from my norm but I haven't had much time to write lately so I'm a bit rusty. The next chapter will be up soon, as it's short, but then chapter 3 with Captain America: Winter Soldier and chapter 4 with Age of Ultron will take some more time. After that I'll just have to update when movies come out, because there isn't much else I can do.**


	2. Iron Man 3

This chapter literally took me 9 minutes to write, so I suspect the next one will be up within the next half hour. These next two chapters are jokes, okay? They answer the question of 'where the Hell are the other Avengers during these solo movies'. Like I said, don't take them too seriously, we'll get back to actual drama when I get to Winter Soldier. On another note: I can't believe the number of follows and favorites I got! Thank you so much... now if you could leave some reviews you may succeed in making me so happy I die.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2- Iron Man 3

Skye followed the news far closer than Clint did, so she brought it to his attention first. "Clint, shouldn't we be a bit worried about this Mandarin guy? Shield fits perfectly with his MO, and he's proven to have a thing for Stark… not that anybody doesn't have a thing for Stark, but you know what I mean."

Apparently, Clint didn't. "What's this Mandarin guy? Never mind, if I haven't heard about it we don't need to worry about it. Go back to writing that mission report for our op in Lisbon!"

Skye had been partners with Clint Barton for long enough to know she wouldn't get anywhere with a fight. If he said they shouldn't be worried about the Mandarin she wouldn't be.

"I handed you a report on the Mandarin yesterday," Maria, who'd been standing close enough to hear, questioned Clint after Skye left. "Did you not look over it?"

The man leaned back in his chair, and snapped a new head onto one of his arrows. "Oh no, I looked over it, and like I said to Skye it's nothing Tony can't handle. He's a grown man; he can handle some terrorists."

* * *

"Tony is dead, now should we be worried?"

Clint turned to see Skye standing at his office door, tears bursting at her eyes. He pulled her into a tight hug before whispering into her ear. "Don't worry about Tony kid, I bet you a year's worth of mission reports he's not actually dead. Like I said, Tony is a grown man; he can handle it."

Skye didn't believe her partner one bit, but there was nothing she could do. This Mandarin was off the grid, and Skye couldn't even get Jarvis to talk to her. (She'd tried. Over the past year she'd gotten very good into getting into Stark's systems.)

* * *

A few days later, Skye was in a considerably better mood… until Clint showed up at her office door. "Told you he'd be fine kid. So about those mission reports…"

There were some days when Skye hated being an Avenger.


	3. Thor: The Dark World

Two chapters, albeit terribly short, in a half hour? I deserve some props at least? Ha ha so enjoy the second joke chapter. The next one has much more plot.

* * *

Thor: The Dark World

All the Avengers hadn't met up since the Battle of New York, but that didn't mean Skye couldn't keep an eye on them. Thor was by far the hardest for Skye to track, considering he was never on earth, so she did the best she could and tracked Jane Foster.

Hence how she knew Jane had disappeared only minutes after Darcy had realized it. "Hey Clint," Skye told her partner not even bothering to knock on the door. "Thor's girlfriend Jane Foster just literally disappeared off the face of the earth. I think we should probably head to England to see if everything is okay, for Thor's sake."

Clint spun around in his spinney chair and gave Skye an amused look. "I'm sure Jane is fine. She's a grown woman. We don't need to fly to England just because she hasn't updated her Facebook status."

Skye actually had much more sophisticated ways of tracking people, so she just scowled in Clint's direction. "If it was Laura missing and no one knew how to contact you would you not want the rest of the team to rally for her?"

"But it's not Laura," Clint reminded her surprised the girl so flagrantly would compare his sensible wife to Thor's 'girlfriend' of a whole week. "Laura would have the sense not to fall through a portal or something. She's fine. If you find out otherwise then we can go to England. Until then I'm just going to assume you just want some tea or something."

Sometimes Clint's sarcastic personality was endearing. Other times Skye very much wondered if she'd get in trouble for letting him bleed out on a mission. "Fine," Skye huffed knowing Clint was not moving (and she couldn't fly a plane.) "But if she's in trouble we are going to help."

"Jane just showed up," Skye told a very smug Clint a few hours later. "And suddenly she had some weird seismic energy bursting out of her. Now can we go make sure everything is okay?"

Clint actually sat forward in his chair this time. "Where is she now?"

"Reports seem like Thor took her, which means probably Asgard." Finally she was getting somewhere! They needed to go help a friend, a teammate, and maybe Clint would actually let her this time.

Or not. "If they're on Asgard how are we supposed to trace them?" Clint posed sitting back in his chair. "Go finish your paperwork."

"But!"

"Paperwork!" Clint bellowed loud enough to draw every look to them. "Or I'll tell Maria that you have been copy-pasting things I said."

Skye felt a sense of duty to Thor, but she was far more terrified of Maria finding out she'd been skimping when it came to paperwork. That woman could be a menace.

Skye managed to stay away until that night, but eventually she had enough. Not caring about the hour, Skye drove right into the Barton farm, woke everyone, including baby Lila, up, and demanded to speak to Clint.

"What, what? Who's on fire!"

"There are freaking portals to space open again! Now can we go to Greenwich and help Thor!"

Skye thought she'd gotten somewhere when they entered the house, but Clint instead just handed her Lila and the toddler's Sippy cup. "By the time we get there the earth will either have been destroyed or Thor will have dealt with it. Either way we're not going, but since you have plenty of energy feel free to sit here with Lila until she goes back to sleep."

Skye honestly thought it couldn't get any worse until the Barton's were watching the news the next morning and the world apparently hadn't ended. Clint turned to her at the clip of Thor flying away and smiled. "See, I told you would be fine."

There were a lot of days when Skye hated being an Avenger.


	4. Captain America: Winter Soldier

Okay, we can get back to actual plot now. Hoped you enjoyed the last two light chapters.

* * *

Captain America: Winter Soldier

When Maria left for D.C. in a hurry, Skye was concerned. When news came in that Fury had been attacked, and was in the hospital having emergency surgery, Skye was terrified… especially when Clint showed up at her office looking grave. Clint never looked grave.

"What? Have you heard from Nat? Is Fury okay?"

"Fury's dead." Skye felt like she'd been hit by a truck. She didn't know Nick Fury particularly well, and she liked him less, but still. He was Director Fury! He couldn't just be dead. Nothing could take him down, nothing. "Nat just called and said so. I asked her if she wanted us to come down, but she said to stay here and trust nobody. I chose that that didn't mean you."

Skye was touched, but she knew it was true. Clint trusted her with knowing about his family. None of the male avengers knew. Not Steve, not Tony, just Skye and Natasha. And Skye trusted him as well, which was surprising. She barely trusted anyone after everything that had happened with Ward, but she trusted Clint. After some of their missions these past few years, Skye would be crazy not to.

"So what do we do?"

Clint looked at Skye, and remembered how young she still was. Not the child he first met, per say, but definitely not a true adult. She had faced far more than most adults ever would, however, and all that before Shield. "We listen to Nat, stay here, run the base until Maria gets back."

"If she comes back," Skye realized with a pointed look. "As deputy director she could very well end up with Fury's job."

Clint nodded, hoping, for Maria's sake, that that would not be the case. "Yeah, just get back to work for now, see if you can keep your mind off of things."

Skye nodded and left, doing exactly what she always did when she needed to get her mind off of things.

"Skye!" Jemma's voice was warm on the other end of the face chat. "It's been too long since you've called. How are you?"

So obviously she hadn't heard about Fury then. Well Skye wasn't going to ruin her friend's mood. "I'm okay, how is everything on the Bus?"

"We're actually not on the Bus," Jemma admitted and Skye realized it was the truth. It actually looked like they were at the "Hub, yeah we had to stop in for some things. It's only for a few days though, and then we're back in the air. I still miss you being with us."

Skye missed those days as well, but right now working as Clint's partner and a Avenger was doing a lot more good than being on the Bus. There were plenty of awesome agents on that plane, not so many at the Parthenon.

'Oh wait," Jemma called out pursing her lips. "Give me a second I just got a Shield notification."

That was odd, Skye looked down at her phone and realized she had as well. Scanning it quickly, Skye looked back up at her friend who seemed equally nauseous. "I have to go. If Cap and Nat are wanted by Shield, then there is something very, very wrong."

"Good luck," Jemma called sounding worried for her friend. Ever since Skye was reassigned Jemma had been worried for her friend. It was a different life away from the Bus, especially for one with powers.

"Keep your head low at the Hub, okay?" Skye couldn't help but feel like this was probably the worst possible time for them to land at a Shield facility. "Whatever this is, it's big."

Skye clicked off the call and went to find Clint, who had already reached her door. "Okay, now we can worry."

Skye and Clint were about to fly out to D.C. that second to go help Natasha and Steve, but Skye found her phone buzzing. Clint, suspecting what the message was, snatched it from her hands.

 **616-223-4477:Hey baby, meet you tonight at 9, down at the pizza place on east main street.**

Clint hurried back a response, and unloaded the plane they'd been stuffing. "What's going on?" Skye asked her partner confused. Why was Clint so eager to answer a message sent to a wrong number? When Clint didn't answer her, Skye snatched back her phone and read the conversation herself.

 **You: I think you have the wrong number, what were you trying to dial?**

 **616-223-4477: Oh, my bad, I thought this was 466-384-7698. How embarrassing?**

Skye has been confused when Clint went off mission in Cambodia to get a smoothie, but this was on a whole other level. Still, she didn't say anything because Clint spoke. "Kids these days with their texting and instapound."

"It's instagram," Skye corrected honing all the spy skills she knew. For Clint to use their code, for Clint to say they couldn't be talking aloud in a Shield base, it had to be really, really, really bad.

"Whatever," Clint muttered heading towards their cars. "So we said Mario's right?"

Mario's was a wonderful place because the owner was so freaking paranoid. She was convinced the government was spying on her constantly, and had worked to set up her pizza place where there wasn't a single camera. Add on the lack of wi-fi or phone signal, and it was the places place for them to talk when they couldn't go back to the Farm.

"So, I'm assuming that was Nat?" Skye finally whispered over her meatball sub. "Why didn't she text you?"

Clint took a bite of his sausage before shrugging. "Tasha probably figured they'd be tracking my phone, hoping she'd try reaching out to me. As far as anyone knows, you and Nat only met in New York and haven't seen each other since."

Well, they hadn't, not officially, but both girls considered the Farm a home of sorts, so they ended up bumping into each other quite often. Almost enough that Nat wasn't trying to drive Skye from Shield still, but just almost. "So, what does it mean?"

"Shield has been compromised, don't know by who, but it's someone we would recognize the name of but have never fought." Wow, that was some in depth code they had. Considering whom it was, Skye wasn't surprised. "The worst bit is that she didn't give us her coordinates, which means she wants us to stay here and hold down the Parthenon. Whatever she and Steve are up to, it's not going to stay at the Triskelian."

Skye suddenly was glad she'd warned Jemma to watch herself. The Hub was the third biggest Shield facility, whatever this was, there were moles there too. "So what do we do?"

"Hold down the Parthenon," Clint made it sound so easy Skye could almost believe it. "Knowing Nat, there is going to be some huge announcement and then we'll know what's going on. Until then we wait."

So wait they would.

It was horrible the next day pretending everything was okay when it was so obviously not. Lucky for Skye, no one suspected that she knew more than anyone else because everyone was tense. No one spoke in the hallways, everyone filled out their paperwork silently, the place could have been a morgue. That was why it was all the more terrifying when Steve Roger's voice flooded out towards them.

"Attention all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over these last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. Shield is not what we thought it was, it's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are Hydra as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone who stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

Skye didn't understand half of what Steve was talking about, because he probably didn't even realize every Shield agent, not just those at the Triskelian, could hear him. The message was clear though- Hydra was running Shield.

"I said to expect a big flashy message," Clint sighed slinging his bow off his back and aiming it around the building, searching for some sign of Hydra. "But not us to be fighting Nazi's, that's for sure."

These weren't Nazi's though, not really; they were far, far worse.

Skye felt a bullet's energy and sidestepped seconds before it hit her. Looking around frantically, she caught sight of the shooter, just as he, and a dozen others, turned their guns on her and Clint.

It made sense-take out the Avengers. But shooting at someone with the power to control energy really wasn't the best idea, because Skye had learned a wonderful party trick that involved her directing the energy in bullets and turning them around.

The base descended into chaos as partners shot partners, allies shot allies. No one knew who was Hydra and who was not, but the message was fairly clear-if someone was shooting at you or an Avenger, assume they were Hydra and shoot back.

"What's the most dangerous item in this place?" Skye asked Clint projecting a shield in front of them. "Because we can assume that's something they'd want."

Skye heard a muttered 'shit' as Clint docked a half dozen arrows and sprayed the attacking agents before running up the stairs. Cursing him Skye followed, helping everyone she could, even if she felt they might be Hydra. Unless she was absolutely sure, Skye was going to consider them innocent, because she couldn't rationalize the other option.

"How come I didn't know we had an Obelisk!" Skye was freaking out, but she sort of had a right to. "This is a dangerous weapon!"

Clint wasn't going to argue with her. The only reason Skye hadn't been told about the acquisition was because she would freak, and he didn't blame her. Still, it wasn't his call. "The good news is that none of them can touch it, so it's safe."

Skye didn't believe that; she had heard of gloves. Carefully, she pulled it free. "Well, I can hold it, and no harm done, so I'm going to hide it thank you very much."

She would have hid it if she didn't feel a bullet rip through her body that very second.

When Skye's eyes blinked open a few days later, Clint was sitting by her bedside. "Hydra, the Obelisk…where?" she asked sitting up with a start. Searing pain coursed through her abdomen, and Skye didn't have to ask what happened. She'd been shot before; she knew what it felt like. "Okay, ow, ow, ow, lying back, lying back."

"They got the Obelisk," Clint admitted once he was sure the girl hadn't torn everything open again. "I couldn't touch it, and you would have died if I hadn't gotten you to the med bay."

If Skye could have moved, she would have punched Clint. As it was she made a note to ask the Hulk to do it-that would really hurt. "So you chose my life over all of the people who will die because Hydra has an Obelisk!"

"Yes," Clint could have made lies, he could have excused his actions, but he didn't. "Because you and I, we can save those people, but only if you're alive. And you're my…" Clint didn't know how to finish that sentence; the English language didn't have a word to properly describe their relationship. "You're my Skye, and I wasn't going to let you bleed out. We'll track down the Obelisk before Hydra can use it."

Somehow Skye knew 'we' meant more than she and him. "What happened? How long has it been?"

"Three days," Clint admitted turning on the TV to where Natasha was facing Congress. "Shield has fallen, but so has Hydra. Steve is still in a coma, I owe Nat ten bucks; I thought he'd wake before you. As for the rest of us… well Tony bought the Parthenon, said it used to be one of his dad's storage facilities anyway. He offered you a job as well, in his 'tech division.' Maria calls it 'privatizing world security'," he answered with a shrug. "It's basically a way for us to buy time until everything settles down a bit. The Avengers never really belonged to Shield, and Congress isn't calling for our heads, so that's a start. I guess it's up to us to take down what's left of the organization." Skye sort of liked the sound of that. Hitting Nazis was fun. "You should know," he waited until he was leaving to address the issue, knowing Skye would be as upset as he was. "You should know the Obelisk isn't the only piece of alien tech they got. It appears Loki's scepter is gone as well."

Skye couldn't wait until she was healed. She really, really needed to go hit some Nazis.


	5. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Yes you're allowed to hate me. I have plenty of excuses to offer, but you don't want those, you want the chapter. Also, I started this days ago, but it's really long so yeah.. enjoy

* * *

Age of Ultron

Skye heard Tony's voice loud and clear over the coms, "Shit." She was feeling much the same way. Hydra knew they were here, and everything was about to get much more interesting.

And funnier apparently, "Language," Steve replied causing Skye to burst out laughing.

Everyone else continued babbling about the mission, but as Skye blasted a dozen Hydra agents, she heard Tony asking if everyone else was going to ignore Steve's remark. "I heard it loud and clear, but how about we blow up Hydra and then Steve and I will wash out your mouth with a bar of soap."

She heard Tony laughing, and Steve grumbling about stupid kids. Refocusing on the people trying to kill her, Skye made her way towards the base of the Hydra base. "I can level it if we want."

"Don't," Thor cried. "Loki's scepter and your obelisk are both inside. If you destroy the building, who knows what kind of damage they would cause to the city."

Skye looked around the city. She'd never heard of Sokovia before their mission debrief, but it was a beautiful place. A sad place certainly, it looked war beaten, but still beautiful. "Alright then. Stark, how's it going with that force field?"

Before Tony could answer, Skye heard Clint announcing the presence of another enhanced. Just as he did, Skye saw a blast of light from Tony's suit, and knew the shield was down. Trying to block out Natasha's report on Clint's condition, Skye marched into the facility to find the Obelisk. She hadn't protected it last time, and she'd be damned to lose it again.

 _I should say that aloud,_ Skye chuckled. _Maybe Steve will be offended._

"We have a second enhanced," Skye realized feeling the energy in the room. "Female, she…" Skye broke off with a scream as she felt tendrils of energy burst out towards her. Without thinking, she blasted the attacker back, and found herself facing a very confused girl.

"Dat is not possible," she whispered looking at Skye. "No one can resist me but…"

"But the other one?" Skye finished for her thinking of the enhanced who'd attacked Clint and getting angry. When the girl nodded, though, Skye softened. "They're inhumans," she spoke over the coms. "I repeat, the enhanced are inhumans."

The girl didn't seem to like that term, and tried attacking Skye again, but the scarlet tendrils did nothing to hurt her. "I think your powers may be limited, you can't hurt me because I'm like you."

"You are nothing like me," she hissed looking at the "A" on Skye's uniform. "You are like Stark."

Skye laughed at that. She was quite a bit like Tony, hence why they seldom got along. "You and the other one, you got your powers after being exposed to a mist of sorts, right? You were encased in rock and came out different?" Wanda was so shocked that this stranger knew, she finally stopped attacking. "It's called terrigenesis," Skye explained. "I went through it as well. We're the same species, you, me, and that guy out there-we're all inhumans." The only Inhumans Skye knew. "You're one of my own, so let me help you. Hydra, is evil, you don't need to help them."

The girl looked up and slid back into the shadows, her voice soft as she went, "I'm not."

Skye let out a burst of energy in frustration, and accidentally knocked down a wall. On the other side, she found a room covered in stone, stone bodies. In the center of the room sat the obelisk, and Skye felt sick. It hadn't just been the boy and girl in the experiment, there were plenty of others, but they were like Trip, not Skye, and they were gone.

"I have the obelisk," Skye told the others grabbing it and heading back to the quinjet. Stark, you good with the scepter?"

She heard nothing but static on the other end, and began to panic. "Stark, you there?"

"Don't freak kid," Tony chuckled sounding pained. "I've got the scepter and am on my way back to the quinjet."

Skye rolled her eyes at the nickname; she wasn't a kid anymore. No, she was an adult, and, more importantly, and Avenger.

Once everyone loaded back on the quinjet, it hit Skye just how hurt Clint was. He was passed out in the back, having been stabilized by Bruce, but if he didn't get real treatment soon he'd die. Skye wasn't sure what she'd do then. Clint was the only member of the team she had any real connection with. Sure, Steve was nice and all, and Natasha and her relationship had improved, but Clint was the only one who wanted her there. The others still saw her as too young, too out of control. It didn't matter that she'd saved thousands of lives over the past three years; she would always just be 'the kid'.

"Skye can't come to the revels," Tony pointed out drawing the girl from her thoughts. "She's too young."

Point-case.

"It's more than just Clint bothering you, isn't it?" Nat had made her way over from where she and Bruce were ogling each other, and sat besides Skye. "Did something happen in there you didn't tell us about?"

No, and yes. She'd reported everything that physically happened, but she hadn't been able to explain the look in the girl's eyes. She reminded Skye so much of herself right when she changed. She was so sad and alone. She'd responded poorly to the word inhuman because that was how she felt, inhuman, abnormal…Skye knew what that felt like. "It's nothing. I'm just worried about the old man, that's all."

Nat knew Skye well enough to know it was a lie, but she didn't press. As little as the Black Widow liked having the girl involved in this life, she accepted that Skye was exactly the kind of person they needed. Skye wasn't going to go dark side on them. If she was hiding something, it had to be for a good reason.

"What do we know about the enhanced?" Steve asked Maria as soon as they got back to the tower. "Besides that they're inhumans?"

Maria explained their history, and Skye understood the look in Wanda's eyes. They truly were the same. "They're my responsibility, got that? Thor got Loki and the Tesseract, I get the twins and the Obelisk," Skye told the others with a firm look. "I was getting through to Wanda. I think I can probably help her."

"They volunteered for Strucker's experiments," Maria warned. "That's nuts, Skye, I don't think they can be reasoned with."

"They're still my responsibility," Skye barked. "Until you know what it feels like to turn to stone. Until you know what it feels like to come out anew and discover everyone around you isn't coming back at all, it's my responsibility, understood?"

No one had ever heard Skye talk about her transformation, and now that she was they sure as well weren't going to fight them. "Okay," Thor told her with a nod. "But know Loki was my responsibility, so the blood he's spilt is on my hands."

Skye understood that perfectly well thank-you-very-much, so she just nodded to prove her resolve.

Natasha cheered the girl up a bit by leading her to where Clint was pissing and moaning about his current situation. "If we get him too close to a fire will he melt?" Skye chuckled and received an annoyed look from Clint.

"He'll be made of himself," Dr. Cho confirmed. "His own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

"I don't have a girlfriend."

Skye was about to make a comment about how Laura would surely know, when Nat gave her a hard look. It was weird remembering that the other Avengers didn't know about the Barton family, but they didn't. So Skye would keep her mouth shut.

Once Clint was up and about, Skye felt much better. Her mood was almost perfect by the time the party started, because everyone was making an utter fool of themselves.

"Want a drink?" Nat offered her, coming to sit by and watch the hilarious interactions around them.

"I don't drink," Skye admitted. "It doesn't interact well with my powers." Last time she'd gotten a buzz Clint had to tranquilize her before she accidentally knocked down the city.

"More for me then," Natasha chuckled downing the shot. "So, I hope you don't mind, but after your little outburst earlier I did a bit of digging. I thought you said your SO was a traitor, but your file said it was Agent May."

"May was my second SO," Skye admitted recognizing the kindness in Natasha's voice. "You know her?"

Natasha laughed at that. "I've known her since I joined SHIELD. Whenever Fury needed an effective team of four he'd match Clint and me up with May and Coulson…" Her voice trailed off, and Skye wished she could reveal that the man was still alive. He'd kill her for doing so though. "May and I had some good times."

"She's a good person," Skye smiled sadly realizing she hadn't seen the woman in three years. "I would certainly have gotten myself killed if it wasn't for her."

"I know what you mean," Natasha admitted making Skye wonder about all the missions the assassin had been on. She'd heard some stories, but most of it was classified for the need of sanity more than the protection of intel.

"But it's a trick!"

Skye and Natasha turned to where Clint was angrily protesting the rules regarding the hammer. "Oh this should be great," Nat muttered as the two girls wandered over to where Clint was attempting to lift the hammer. Skye wondered for a minute if he actually could, but wasn't surprised when it remained firmly in place.

"In his defense," Skye noted with a chuckle. "You couldn't lift it either when he first met you."

Thor let out a booming laugh as Stark went over to try and lift it. Skye knew this was going to end terribly, and found herself crying she was laughing so hard. Tony really thought the added help of his suit would make him worthy to rule Asgard?

Steve tried next, and Skye sat on the edge of her seat. It moved an inch, and Thor looked ready to blow a gasket, but not even the noble hero could get it up.

None to Skye's surprise, Nat refused to try. She probably just didn't want everyone to know she could do it, because Skye was firmly confident she could. "I bet Maria, Nat and I can all lift it," Skye challenged. The boys seemed horrified at the thought, but Skye shrugged. "Look at the number of guys here verses the girls. We have to be twice as awesome."

"Well then," Clint challenged his partner. "Go for it."

Skye was beginning to regret her words as she looked at the immovable hammer, but she took her chance. Worst case scenario she couldn't lift it and they laughed, what did she care?

"Oh my God," Clint spit his drink everywhere as Skye easily lifted the hammer and waved it around. "You're kidding me."

"Do I get to rule Asgard now?"

"How come she is worthy and I'm not!" Tony grumbled, trying again at the hammer. As he did, they all heard a strange voice behind them. "How could you be worthy, with everything you've done."

Skye turned to see an iron legion suit torn to shreds but still walking. Tony tried to recall it, but nothing happened. Suddenly, Bruce realized who it was "Ultron."

Skye didn't know who that was, but Tony seemed to. She didn't really have the time to ask either because suddenly it was attacking them. Without thinking Skye sent a blast of energy at it, quaking the metal so much it fell to pieces.

"Is it… dead?" Skye asked walking over to the dissembled robot. "Why do I feel like it's not dead?"

Tony went over to a computer and began running programs before answering, "Because he isn't. He fled into the internet, but at least he's gone from now without too much of a fight. Nice work Quake."

They so rarely called her by that name. Skye almost felt like Tony was mad at her, for saving his life of all things. "What the Hell did you do Stark?"

"Hey," Tony protested deflecting as always. "Cap doesn't like that kind of language."

Steve glared at the man, "What I don't like are robots trying to kill us. So I'll repeat Skye's question-what the Hell did you do?"

"Tony and I were working on using Loki's scepter to create a true AI," Bruce. "But Ultron was designed to protect humanity from alien invasions, what's it doing now?"

"Perhaps it's trying to stop an alien invasion," Skye glared her voice thick with spite. "You know, considering it attacked us, and there are two aliens in the room right now. Did you really think you could create world peace or something by designing a robot to kill aliens? Aliens aren't the problem. We were winning against the Chitauri and Loki in New York, but the real threat was the nuke people sent. Your reactions to aliens is what messes everything up! As we can see with the homicidal robot running about the internet!"

"We have another problem," Thor announced running into the room. "The scepter is gone as well."

"I can work on tracking Ultron. If we find where he is then we'll find the scepter. And then Thor will take it far away from people like you Stark," Skye hissed going towards a computer and running every program she knew to track Ultron.

He wasn't hard to find. The problem wasn't that he was nowhere to be found, but everywhere. Skye knew who he was with though from the reports of invisibly fast men and people hallucinating. Stupid. She should have tried to get Wanda and Pietro to go with her the first time. Now they were with Ultron, which would only end poorly.

Skye was so busy furiously trying to track the twins that she didn't even hear them talking until Natasha was behind her saying they were loading up the Quinjet, and heading to Africa.

"You know, Skye, if these Maximoffs are working for Ultron we're going to have to stop them to go through him," Steve told her as they sped over the Atlantic. "We agreed that you got to decide what we did with them, but we might not have any choice but to act."

Skye looked at the noble hero. Of all the Avengers, she would have expected him, not her, to be able to lift the hammer. Perhaps it was questions like these that gave insight as to why he couldn't. "There's always another choice Cap. There is always another choice."

Skye wasn't going to give the order that they could take them out if necessary. She would not make that call. Most likely everyone on the team would go against her authority and take them out if they had to, but Skye wasn't going to approve at that choice. She certainly wasn't going to kill them if it came up. They just needed to see that there was another choice, a better choice. Skye hated SHIELD once too, but then she learned what they really were and loved it. Wanda and Pietro deserved that chance.

"Skye," Steve was giving out orders and the girl wasn't even listening. "You want to be on Maximoff duty? If she really can't get into your head the way she can the rest of us then perhaps you can stop them."

Skye nodded, glad that he was giving her the chance. Perhaps Steve took her words to heart and remembered that he was once a kid who needed a break as well.

It wasn't hard for Skye to get the Maximoff twins together and away from the others. Over the past three years she'd gotten very good at recognizing the feeling of energy, and Wanda emitted more energy than anyone else. All Skye had to do was make Wanda feel trapped and she called out to Pietro.

The boy tried pulling Skye away from his sister, but the Avenger had already let go of her arms. "I don't want to fight you. I just want to talk. Ultron is trying to destroy the world. Surely you can see how that is not a good thing."

"Your Stark created him," Pietro reminded her. "Anything it's doing it's because of him."

Skye knew that, and she was going to make Tony pay for it as soon as the chance arose. "I know, but… I told Wanda we were the same, and I didn't even know how true that is. I am an orphan too, and I didn't even get a twin. I know how hard this is for you, but let me help you. I ca…"

She was cut off as the air darted from her lungs. Within the blink of an eye Pietro had picked her up, and carried her to the edge of the city-just like that. "I do not want to hurt you either, but we do not need your help."

"I'm out," Skye called over the coms as Pietro disappeared. "I'm on the wrong side of the city…that kid is real fast. They're coming your way…try not to hurt them."

It wasn't an order though, and that hurt Skye. She'd been so sure they just needed a chance, but they had been given one. Perhaps they were just truly bad.

Yet Pietro had carried her away from the fighting instead of hurting her. He even said that he didn't want to hurt her. How could he possibly be fully bad?

Evil or not, it didn't take Skye long to realize he'd that they'd made a mess. Even from the distance Skye could make out the sight of the Hulk tearing apart the city. Cursing everything, she took off running towards the destruction.

By the time Skye got there, the fight was over. She cursed herself for not being a fight, but Clint pointed out that she probably would have made it worse. "The last thing this city needs at the moment is an earthquake."

Still, Skye felt horribly useless. She'd failed at her task of keeping the Maximoffs occupied, and everyone had paid for it. She had one job, and she failed. It was no wonder she felt so miserable as the quinjet landed on the Barton Farm.

Everyone, Nat excluded, seemed confused as they walked into the farmhouse, and Skye wasn't surprised. She remembered the first time Clint had taken her here. They'd been working undercover in Austria, but their intel was bad and they'd been discovered. The two barely made it out with their lives, and only did because Skye took the bullet for Clint. It was then that Clint had decided he trusted her enough to reveal his family. Skye suspected Nat had been involved in a similar way, so it was odd to think that after today's failure Clint had decided to show the other Avengers his secret.

But he had, and Skye was grateful for it. She had her apartment by the Parthenon, it's true, but the Barton farm was the closest thing she had to a home. That was one thing her and Natasha had bonded over.

"Aunty Skye!" Lila squealed running up to the youngest Avenger and hugging her legs tight. "I'll go get the glasses and we can play."

Most of the time Skye enjoyed using her powers to make music on wine glasses, but the sheer thought made her feel sick. "Some other time Lila. You and Cooper should run off and play, I'll come see you later." Lila nodded, gave Nat a hug, and ran off with her brother in tow. Skye was almost smiling as they went.

No one else was smiling. Actually, Thor and Steve had gone outside. Sighing, Skye went to find the change of clothes she left here for instances like this. Maybe once she looked like a competent human being she could be one again.

Everyone scattered, and Skye found herself curled up on the couch as Laura brought over some hot chocolate. "Clint sad that the Maximoff girl couldn't get in your head… something tells me that's not exactly true, is it?"

No, unfortunately it was not. "They're my people, my responsibility, and I can't even control them."

"Sounds to me like you see them as your kids," Laura chuckled, but it was a shockingly accurate assessment. A parent attempts to guide their kid towards the good path, and Skye was trying to do that with Wanda and Pietro. "So take this from a mom-stop trying to control them. If they really are good people sooner or later they will realize that what Ultron is doing is wrong and fight him."

"And what do I do until then?"

Laura smiled sadly, pulling the blanket over her third child. "Well, if there is one thing I know about children is that the only way to get through it all is to never let go of them, no matter what happens."

Nick Fury showed up of course. From what Skye had heard Coulson was the Director of SHIELD, or what was left of it, but that didn't mean Fury could just let go. No, he had to come and give the Avengers a pep-talk/ reprimand. Still, it worked, and the team set apart in two directions-Oslo, and Seoul.

"Skye you should come with me to Oslo, I could use another pair of hands that know their way around a computer."

Tony gave her a perfect excuse not to go and fight the Maximoffs again, but looking at Laura Skye knew it was one she couldn't take. "If Ultron is in Seoul so are Wanda and Pietro. Where they are I am."

Skye of course didn't know this, but there was a new light in her eyes no one, not even Clint, had seen before. She really wasn't the child they met a few years before-she was a hero. It was no wonder she could life Thor's hammer, anyone would have trusted a kingdom to her in that moment.

Skye took to the ground as soon as they got to Seoul, her powers dangerous in the air. "Can I just knock the whole truck off the ramp?" Skye suggested to Steve looking down at where Ultron was escaping. "It would be a lot easier."

"And you could crush anyone below," Steve reminded her. "No, we just have to work on stopping the truck."

Skye would have rather her plan, but there was nothing she could do. She sent a blast of energy towards the truck, blasting open the back of it. "Your turn Cap," she announced scrambling down the interstate. "Damn, I wish I could run like Pietro right now."

"Let me help you with that," a soft Sokovian voice whispered in here ear. Before Skye could even register he presence, Pietro was fireman lifting her again, and dashing towards where Ultron was raging. "You were right, Ultron is mad." Amid all the carnage, Skye was smiling. They'd finally accepted the truth, and come looking for her. It was an encouraging thought.

"Skye, you stay with them and stop this train. I'm going after Ultron," Steve ordered before jumping off the speeding thing like it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

The three inhumans looked at the danger ahead of them, and acted as a single entity without anyone uttering a single command. Pietro worked to move everyone out of their way while Skye and Wanda used their powers to pull to train to a grinding halt.

With the fighting over and everyone safe, Wanda's mind traveled to the true danger she'd seen in Ultron's head. "Do you have the cradle?"

"Tony will take care of it," Skye promised knowing that it wouldn't be much of a relief. Stark was responsible for their parent's deaths, however accidentally. They had plenty of reason to distrust him.

But few to be so terrified of him. "You don't understand. Stark created Ultron and…"

"And the code only does what the coder taught it," Skye realized in horror. Tony didn't even realize it, but all of Ultron's bad qualities were his. Perhaps their means were different, but their end goal was the same, and that could not end well.

"Shut it down," Skye ordered bursting into the tower, Wanda and Pietro behind her. "I don't know what you're doing Tony, but you need to stop before you get more people killed."

"I don't care what your kids are telling you, stay out of this Skye," Bruce warned, and Skye realized how bad this was if he was on board too. Steve and Clint seemed unconvinced however, which would work.

Skye moved towards the computer, but they kept her far out of range of the 'off' button. "Wanda can't get into my mind Tony, but she got into yours. So if anyone is being influenced here it's not me."

Tony's eyes wavered, but that wasn't enough for Pietro. The inhuman darted around the room destroying everything in a desperate attempt to stop Ultron's vision from coming to pass.

"Oh I'm going to…" Bruce growled and moved towards Pietro. Without even thinking, Skye sent a blast of energy at him to protect the inhuman.

It was a complete disaster. As soon as Skye made the first move, every Avenger turned on the other and raged. They were about to tear each other apart when Thor burst in lightening sparking the cradle into overdrive and finishing the process.

The body burst from its container, and instantly attacked Thor. Everyone else, despite having fought only seconds before, moved in the Asgardian's defense. If Thor hadn't called out a booming "wait" they probably would have destroyed the body then in there.

But they didn't, and when it turned around again it looked…civil. Certainly it was not human in any shape or form, but it also didn't look like the crazed monster it had been only moments before.

"Your mind has changed," Wanda whispered looking at the being with inexplicable trust. "You are not what Stark intended, but you are also not what Ultron designed you to be…"

"I am new," the man confirmed. "I am your Vision."

"Nat is in Sokovia," Clint announced looking towards the message he'd been sent. "And I bet Ultron is there."

"He cares nothing for life, if you are fighting his destruction, I will fight with you."

Steve was the team leader, and he didn't seem to like the idea of Vision coming very much. Still, he didn't have much choice in the matter. "Fine, you have three minutes-everyone suit up."

Everyone was silent on the ride to Sokovia, everyone besides the three inhumans that was. Skye explained to them the bit she understood about their race, mostly just stories Thor had told her. In exchange, Wanda and Pietro opened up about their lives in Sokovia. Skye's life in the foster system had been miserable and lonely, but at least she had a roof over her head. Wanda and Pietro never had that, but they had each other. No one could decide who had it worse, and they didn't need to. All that mattered was that none of them were alone now, and they would all have a home-so long as Ultron didn't end the world today.

"Skye, you and the Maximoffs work on evacuation. Everyone else work on stopping Ultron," Steve ordered before going into a long winded speech about honor and duty. (Or that was all Skye got out of it before they touched down and began their mission.)

Wanda and Pietro were far more effective at evacuation than Skye, but she still did her best. Almost half the city was evacuated when Skye felt the onset of tremors. Clint, who was standing nearby, looked at her horrified. "Skye, what are you doing?"

"This isn't me!" she called realizing what was happening. "There's some sort of engine forcing the city up. Get everyone off the fault lines!"

Skye became a hundred times more useful after that. Her ability to force people off the lifting city with a brush of her hands helped stragglers, and she knew a thing or two about earthquakes.

"That building is about to collapse," Skye called to Pietro feeling the vibrations. "I can hold it together long enough for you to get everyone out, go."

He was gone before she could even begin speaking, and so was the building. Skye felt sticky blood dripping from her nose, but held on forcing the building to retain its shape. Just when she began to lose it, Pietro appeared besides her and nodded.

Clint turned around just in time to see his partner collapse from exhaustion.

When Skye woke up again, she stepped into the bright sunlight to discover two things. For one, they'd gotten sufficiently higher up-no one could just jump off now. Secondly, Skye noticed Wanda fighting with a new ferocity, no, a new determination. When Skye saw the grin on Clint's face, she knew who was responsible.

"What did you say to her?" she asked knocking an Ultron bot into a building.

"I told her she could be an avenger, and she is."

Yes, they all were.

Nick Fury turned up again, and this time Skye was far happier to see him. It had been years since she last saw the helicarrier, but it filled her with the same joyous apprehension it had before. They could get everyone off.

Evacuations were slow, but the three inhumans, as well as the rest of the Shield team, managed it.

"Avengers, time to work for a living," Stark called, and without thinking Wanda and Pietro followed Skye to the city center where the core sat. Side by side they fought back the legion of Ultrons, taking down two or even three at a time. Looking at them in that moment and you could understand why they were called inhumans-their power was extreme.

Skye wasn't having a hard time breathing even when Steve said the air was thinning out, so she wasn't surprised when Wanda volunteered to stay. Their mutation seemed to give them an edge in harsh environments-if anyone could survive protecting the core alone, it was Wanda.

The last boats were loaded, and Pietro came over to Skye. "I am going to go and find Wanda. Get yourself on a life boat and we'll be back in a second."

Skye nodded, and he went to leave, until he noticed the horror scene before them.

Clint had run off the life boat to grab a kid, and Ultron had a plane above him. Before Skye could even blink, he fired, and the inhumans reacted. Pietro ran to knock the kid and Clint out of the way, while Skye used her powers to turn the bullets towards Ultron. The ship came crashing down with a horrifying boom, Ultron still locked inside.

"Go get Wanda," Skye told Pietro not wanting to think about how close he and Clint both had been to dying. "I've got this one."

Ultron was stuck in the plane, his vibranium legs stuck inside the collapsed metal. Skye stepped carefully into the cockpit, smiling at the robot's form. "You almost just killed a friend of mine," she told him with a smile. "That wasn't very nice."

"You don't know what death is like," he hissed back. Skye knew he had consciousness in plenty of other bodies, but she couldn't resist. Vibranium was the toughest metal on earth, but it was no match to something not of this earth, no match to Skye. She didn't care that blood trickled down her face again; she tore open the robot and pulled out his steel 'heart'.

"No, but now you do."

Bruce took off as soon as they made contact with land, but Skye wasn't worried. They'd see him again, when the time was right, that was for sure. For now, the Avengers weren't needed, and they could all relax and go on with their life.

"You know Nathaniel Ociel Barton is kind of an odd name," Skye told her partner over Facetime as she looked at the little baby. "But he's very cute."

Clint looked cute too as he smiled, "Well I wanted to name him after my best girls, but I couldn't exactly call a boy Skye." (She looked up Ociel's meaning later, and smiled. Laura put up with so much.)

"Skye, you ready to beat these kids into shape?" Nat called and Skye shut down the chat and ran after him. Smiling she followed him into the room where she saw Pietro, Wanda, Vision, Sam, and Rhodey lining up.

"Avengers," Steve called, but before he could finish it, Skye jumped in.

"Assemble."


	6. Ant-Man

I swear it's not crack (well it's kind of crack), but it is short. I can do short after last chapter. Unfortunately, this is the last movie, and I have nothing to write until Civil War. I promise I'll see that the Friday it comes out and hopefully have the chapter up within a week. Someone come and yell at me to do it, please.

* * *

Ant Man

When the sensors went off, Skye and Sam did rock paper scissors. Sam won.

"What's going on out there?" he asked over coms. The senior Avenger felt the energy around her, and looked down to see a teeny, tiny person.

"Oh my God, you're so cute," Skye laughed picking him up. The man, not enjoying being manhandled, pressed a button and grew suddenly to be much larger than Skye. "Eh, still cute."

"Oh my God, you're Quake," he sounded like a fanboy, and Skye knew a thing or two about those. (Not that anyone could prove that that Iron Man cosplayer was her of course.) "I'd like to start off by saying I'm a huge fan. The name's Scott."

Skye smiled and flipped her hair, "Nice to meet you Scott, I mostly go by Skye around here. While you mostly go by 'intruder'. What are you doing here?"

"And why are you flirting with…" Skye turned off her coms not wanting to hear Pietro's objections. Her boyfriend always got so jealous, and Skye couldn't think with him and the others ranting in her ear.

"Sorry about that," Skye said with a smile. "The rest of the team is telling me I should be fighting you right about now for illegally invading an Avenger's facility, but I like you Scott Lang."

The man gave her a dumbfounded look. "How do you know who I am?"

"I was a hacker, still am when it comes up. Let's just say I approved of how you gave those people their money back. You're not a bad guy, which is why I haven't caused an earthquake to suck you into the ground yet. But if you don't explain to me why you're here I'm going to have to."

Scott seemed surprised to be so welcomed, but he smiled. "Well, um, I'm trying to save the world, you know how that is?" Skye nodded amused. "Cause as you can see I'm a super hero too, they call me ant man… Um and I need this piece of technology that you have in there. It's called a signal decoy. I was hoping I could borrow it for a few days. I'll give it back once the world is safe but…"

"Sure," Skye answered with a chipper smile. "But I'm coming with you. All new superheroes need an older one to help them. I'm sure you understand that."

Scott laughed, but shook his head. "Sorry, but you're Shield, and the man who I'm helping save the world hates Shield… You can't come. I'll be fine though, so long as you give me the signal decoy."

Skye didn't like the idea of this goofy guy running off to save the world alone. Then again, he was probably more competent than she'd been in the beginning. "Fine, let's go get it."

They found it easily, and Scott was about to take off when Skye called to him. "Wait, I need you to smash my coms unit and punch me in the face. That way it looks like I put up a fight and Stark won't kill me."

Scott destroyed the com easily, but he refused to punch her. "It's not because you're a girl, trust me, but this girl has been teaching me to punch and I'd really feel bad doing that to you because damn it hurts. You understand, right?"

Skye did. "Yeah, fine, good luck saving the world, Scott, if you need me… Send a sort of signal into the sky, maybe a giant ant or something. Then I'll come."

Scott left utterly bewildered by the strange Avenger, but intrigued enough to get him in trouble with Hope. "Honestly, they need more girls in that group if every guy gets as stupid as you around them. You're lucky she was friendly."

Scott knew a thing or two about Quake, so he knew he was lucky as well.


End file.
